Can You Say Catastrophe Part 8

Did I just write that? I did!

It feels totally strange to write that I had a good time with my sisters, but I actually did. And I'm not saying that just because I feel bad (which I still do) about losing them the other day.

When May and June and I went to the lobby to buy candy, May saw some kids throwing Jelly Bellies at each other and decided we should too. I said it sounded like fun, and June said it would be even more fun if we did it from a high floor in our hotel, which has hallways around each floor and a big, open atrium in the middle with lots of people wandering around in the lobby below.

So May and June and I bought a bag of Jelly Bellies and went up to the 5th floor and started throwing them at people in the lobby. Every time we'd throw a Jelly Belly and hit somebody, we'd duck down behind the balcony ledge so no one in the lobby would know where the Jelly Bellies were coming from, and then we'd laugh hysterically. In addition to having super-human strength, May also has amazing aim, so she did most of the throwing. She didn't throw hard enough to hurt anybody, but it was enough to make them jump.

I know throwing Jelly Bellies at people is wrong, and I feel badly saying this, but laughing and throwing Jelly Bellies at people with my sisters was a lot of fun.

When we finished, we sat down on the floor of the hallway and fed each other the rest of the Jelly Bellies and tried to guess the flavors. After that, I took May and June to the pool at our hotel, and then we went on the Monorail, an elevated train that took us all over Disney World. It was amazing. We could see the parks and rides and hotels and people out the window.

When we got back to our hotel, May and June held my hands on the way back to the room. It was like a really cheesy moment from a made-for-TV movie where something bad happens to a family then everyone gets really close. But the truth is a it was sweet.

Happy July 4!

9:15 A.M.

Cinderella's Castle

We just ate breakfast at Cinderella's castle. June waited around for a really long time to get Cinderella's autograph, and when she got it, she gave it to me and said she wanted me to have it.

Honestly, I really don't care about Cinderella's autograph, but I knew how much it meant to June. So I told her we could keep it in a safe place in her room and that it would belong to both of us.

Mom told me she was proud of me for handling the situation in such a mature way.

It was weird to hear her say that. But weird in a good way.

Well, I must be off for another amusing day. Ha! Amus.e.m.e.nt parks. Amusing. Sometimes I crack myself up.

10:55 P.M.

In our room

Fun day

Lots of rides

Lots of fireworks

Tonight we saw the biggest, most awesome fireworks show ever. There was red, white, and blue everywhere you looked. It had music, too.

I hate to say it, but it was even bigger and more awesome than the fireworks over Silver Lake at camp.

Whoa a camp. Fireworks. Friends. My brain hadn't thought about all that for what feels like a long time. I don't think there was anything good about losing my little sisters on vacation, but it did make me forget about all the stuff I'm usually obsessed with.

Even though part of me can't help thinking about Billy and Brynn and wondering what's going on at camp without me, part of me is glad to be where I am.

Friday, July 5, 10:45 P.M.

In our room

Last night at Disney World

Another fun day of rides and slides. We went to a water park called Blizzard Beach that was so cool. Literally. It was like being in a blizzard and at the beach at the same time. We went down a bunch of water slides, and we went rafting and tobogganing too. We even got to go on a chair-lift like the kind they have at ski resorts.

May kept trying to pick people up when they came off the chair lift. When she started doing it, I told her to stop because it was embarra.s.sing. Then I decided to let her do whatever she wanted because I didn't know anyone anyway. The funny thing is that when I stopped telling her not to pick people up, she stopped picking people up.

Tonight is our last night here. Tomorrow morning, we leave for the Florida Keys to go snorkeling for four days. I have to admit that what started out as the worst trip ever has had its moments. And by that, shockingly, I mean good ones.

Don't tell me the moon is s.h.i.+ning. Show me the glint of light on broken gla.s.s.

a"Anton Chekov Tuesday, July 9, 5:45 P.M.

Key Largo, Florida

In a hammock

On the beach

I can't believe we've been snorkeling in the Florida Keys for the last four days. And what I really can't believe is that we have to go home tomorrow.

It's too bad because I like it here.

I'd like it a whole lot more if Dad would stop saying annoying stuff like, "It's so nice to have the old April back." And, "I knew this trip was a good idea."

But whatever. I'd never snorkeled before this trip, and it's definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done. If I was old enough to drive (and if I had a car), I'd get a b.u.mper sticker that says I LOVE SNORKELING.

The first day we got here, Mom and Dad bought us a bunch of equipment for snorkeling. Masks. Snorkels. Fins. Mom made a video of May and June and me trying out our equipment on the beach. I knew we looked funny walking around like we couldn't find the ocean, but I didn't care. I put on the fins and mask and pretended like I was a sea monster and chased June around the beach. She was laughing so hard. It was really funny.

Once we got the hang of how the equipment worked, we practiced snorkeling in shallow water. We learned how to breathe through the snorkel and float on our stomachs with fins on.

Then we practiced diving under the surface of the water. We started off still in shallow water. You could see fish and plants under the water that you would never know existed if you hadn't looked under the surface. But snorkeling near the sh.o.r.e couldn't compare to the snorkeling we did during the rest of the trip.

For the last three days, we've gotten to go on snorkel boats and explore the only living coral barrier reef in North America.

The first day we went, the boat captain gave us a quick course on what to do. He gave us some rules: Don't feed the fish. Don't touch the coral. If you see sea turtles or dolphins, don't touch them.

Then he taught us some hand signals to use under water. Stuff like: I've had enough and I'm doing fine.

He said we'd also be doing a lot of signaling for other people to take a look at the cool stuff we'd be seeing. And he was right. What I've seen under water is so completely coola"tons of tropical coral formations, and underwater plants, and all kinds of colorful fish.

Our boat captain told us we were seeing the third largest coral reef in the world, and that the corals had been there for 5,000 to 7,000 years.

When I was in St. Augustine, I didn't like looking at things that were hundreds of years old. Change of opinion: old stuff can be pretty cool after all.

Seeing everything underwater was amazing, but the best part about being under the surface of the ocean was how it felt to be part of an underwater world that I never knew existed. It seemed incredible that I spend every day at school, in my room, hanging out with my friends a while there's a whole other world filled with things that had been there for thousands of years that I didn't know about before this trip.

This sounds weird, but snorkeling made me think that the world is full of things I don't know about yet. Things I've never thought about before or even known to think about. And just realizing that made me happy. Everything underwater was so quiet and relaxing and beautiful. I felt like I could have stayed down there just looking at the fish and corals forever.

But as Dad said, all good things must end.

And that's exactly what's happening tomorrow.

Hi-ho, hi-ho. Back to Faraway we go.

I never thought I'd say this (and I certainly wouldn't say it to my parents), but this trip has been pretty good.

10:30 P.M.

The other thing I've done a lot of on this trip besides snorkeling is eating key lime pie. It's my new favorite food (right up there with s'mores). Dad likes it too. He's taking home a bag of key limes, and he's going to find a recipe so he can start to serve key lime pie at the Love Doctor Diner.

Who knows? I just might start wanting to eat there.

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

a"Dr. Seuss Thursday, July 11, 3:45 P.M.